Notes and Thoughts from the Conference (so far)

This week I'm in Austin, TX at the National Worship Leaders Conference.

For the sake of sharing and processing, here are some assorted notes, sound-bytes and thoughts presented rather randomly. If something here doesn't have enough context to make sense or you'd like to talk about it more, let me know.

• Scotty Smith: "Rather than turning the audience into god, let us turn to God as our audience"
• Constant theme for me this summer: authentic worship brings justice and shows mercy in practical ways (see Zechariah 7, Amos 5)
• I'm not a big fan of the multitude of moving images behind worship song lyrics - a little goes a long way. I also find that I am paying more attention to the images than the words (and they are rarely syncronized thematically).
• Fernando Ortega + string quartet + meditative worship = refreshing
• Shaun Groves: Analogy of our old self vs. our new self - It's like having 2 dogs. Which do you feed and which do you starve? This can be a practical self-examination question. If I do this/watch this/say this/etc., which dog am I feeding?
• To be authentic as a worship leader, don't ignore your struggles (God's power is made perfect in our weakness)
• Ross Parsley: Discipleship happens in doing ministry together (not just over coffee). Purpose bonds people.
• Ross Parsley: analogy of worship as coming around the Family Table - when people from multiple generations are there, it shapes what happens. Church shopping is weird because in life, people don't choose their families. We must be concerned about the whole family, not just with what we like.
• (More Ross Parsley) Discipleship process:
  You Do - They Watch
  You Do - They Help
  You Help - They Do
  You Watch - They Do
• Marva Dawn is much better to listen to than to read (so you can see her whole personality & see/hear her heart for God)
• Marva Dawn: "I'm not opposed to new songs...if they're theologically sound and musically singable."

There's more I could say - but it's been a tiring week...and tomorrow's the last day of the conference (and it's a full one). Hopefully coming soon: stories from my attempts to navigate Austin.